Dish Network simplifies its remote control. The new one, announced Jan. 5, 2015 at the Consumer Electronics Show, is on the right.

Sometimes, it’s the little things.

On Monday, Dish unveiled a new streamlined remote control (above on the right) that adds a touch pad. But it’s more notable for what it took out. The simplified remote look more like a Roku remote. No number pad, no colorful buttons and no buttons you probably never use. It’s actually a bit retro but really, more like today’s Roku simplistic remote.

It also adds voice controls and is back lit. If you miss the number pad however, one will light up in the touch pad area.

With more emphasis on mobile viewing, the company has streamlined not just the remote but its user interface. Think of it as more like apps on a tablet, instead of numbered channels. The remote is even smaller, more like the size of a smartphone, says the company.

Says Dish:

The Hopper Voice Remote is designed to easily fit in the palm of the user’s hand, much like a smartphone. With voice control and a touchpad that responds to swipe and scroll gestures, the remote eliminates the need for excessive buttons, sporting only 17 buttons on its face compared to the 53 buttons on the previous Hopper remote.

With Hopper Voice, customers can use natural language to search by title, actor or genre and can build contextual searches to narrow results. In addition to search, customers can use voice commands to control basic functions of the Hopper, including recording and changing channels.

The new remote will be available in the second quarter of 2015.

Other big product news from Dish included its first 4K Joey DVR, also coming out in the second quarter this year.

The official sneak peek of the Consumer Electronics Show began tonight with CES Unveiled, which lets this year’s CES Innovation Awards Honorees show their stuff exclusively to the press.

Fitness and wearables are still a big thing, apparently, with several companies touting electronic wrist devices (“It’s not a smartwatch,” said a lady at the Zensorium table who then pointed me to her Being wristband that maps your moods). Getting much more attention was actual sports equipment with Bluetooth or Internet built in — and someone showing us how it all works.

Snowboard Reaction

Demo of XON Snow-1 bindings that help snowboarders analyze their ride via an app and smart bindings.

Over at a Japanese company called Cerevo, demonstrators strapped on the XON Snow-1 bindings to a snowboard. The bindings have built-in flex sensors and a load balance sensor that sends your moves to your smartphone via Bluetooth. It takes snowboarding pretty seriously because the point behind it is to analyze and improve your ride. At least there are some bright LED strobe lights built into the toe and heels — that sound look cool at night.

Pedal Power

A bike pedal that keeps track of stolen bikes? Connected Cycle’s smart pedal does that and oh, so much more.

Paris-based Connected Cycle demonstrated an interesting little smart bike pedal. It can locate a lost or stolen bike thanks to built-in GPS and cellular chips. But we expect that with any smart-bike product. Same with tracking bike rides, speed, incline and calories burnt. But unexpectedly, it powers itself. It runs on batteries that are recharged when one actually uses the bicycle. Connected Cycle calls it the “first autonomous smart pedal” because it generates its own power (with human help) and it has its own Internet connection. Presumably, there will be a monthly service fee, but details, details. The company does not have a price on this yet either.

Outside the official CES event, Zepp Labs was hoping to buy a beer for anyone who wanted to get their golf swing analyzed. Inside, however, there was plenty of free booze for willing CES Unveiled attendees so Zepp just concentrated on its products, a squarish sensor that attaches to golf clubs, tennis rackets, bats and many other types of sports equipment. The sensor tracks details like your swing speed, tempo, back swing and hip rotation. Then it takes all that data and tells you how to improve on it.

I’ll be blogging randomly for the next few days as I spot gadgets, services and products that interest me. To read older posts, just click the CES2015 tag.

Boulder residents Elizabeth and Erin Dining, founders of Cradl cases, stand in front of an oversized case. The design was done by Erin, 15. Cradl launches at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 6, 2015.

It’s that crazy, hectic time of year again. The time when those in the tech industry — especially the consumer electronics industry — get no rest post holidays as the annual Consumer Electronics Show opens in Las Vegas on Tuesday, January 6.

Elizabeth Dining and her 15-year-old daughter Erin are even crazier. They’re launching their new mobile accessory case company, Cradl, on Tuesday at the show. The artistic Erin initially designed about 15 patterns for the cases — two made the cut for the first products. Read the Denver Post story about how Colorado mobile accessory companies try to compete in the crowded market, “Colorado makers try to stand out in crowd of mobile accessories at CES.”

I spoke to Elizabeth and Erin over the phone for the story. And many details didn’t make it in, like Erin’s 16th birthday coincidentally is on launch day, Jan. 6.

The idea for Cradl came from an old case made of “white, stretchy foam,” Elizabeth told me. She put it on Erin’s iPhone for the summer and guess what?

“It became more interesting to me that summer because she didn’t break her phone. No offense Erin,” Dining said. “The things we noticed at the end of summer, the phone wasn’t broken and it (the case) wasn’t dirty either. I thought, ‘Hmm, there are all these cases out there. It’s certainly an over-saturated market. But they seem to work one way or another. You either have your cases that are overprotected, like OtterBox, which doesn’t have as much focus on them having designs. Or they’re beautiful but offer very little or no protection at all. I was curious about marrying the two together. That’s where the idea came from.”

A few design details on Cradl’s “Bubbles” case.

The Dinings found the perfect silicon materials. They also reinforced the corners of the cases since dropping an iPhone or iPad on the corner can result in more damage. The company also meets the Apple MFi Certification program, which means that its case protects Apple devices from drops of up to 3.2 feet onto a paved surface, and have cases provide a buffer of at least 1 mm between the cover glass and a flat surface. Cradl says it surpasses this requirement with 1.3 mm on each case design.

Erin drew up the designs at home at the request of her mother. Ultimately, Cradl is launching three designs, two of which are Erin originals. Erin, Cradl’s creative director, is pretty nonchalant about the whole process. The Boulder High School sophomore does get to miss some school this week to travel to Vegas. And for a teenager, she loves working with her mother.

“I’ve really enjoyed it because we know each other so well. I love working with you mom, by the way,” Erin said during an interview. “It’s like, can you go look at this spreadsheet and then go fold the laundry?”

Awww….

Of course, many people have ideas. And we’ll see many more at CES this year. Stay tuned!

Big night in the city? There’s nothing like missing a can’t-miss event because you can’t find a parking spot. But not to worry. Denver wasn’t left off the list. Various parking-app developers have added locations in the city this year to help us all find a spot for an affordable price.

Just don’t forget your smartphone! Here are a few I’ve heard from:

Parking Panda
Reserve and pay for a parking spot based on event or local venues. For example, if you were planning to go to Tuesday’s Denver Nuggets game at Pepsi Center, select the date on Parking Panda’s Pepsi Center page. It shows you available options and the prices for at least 15 area parking lots and garages within walking distance. Parking Panda has also teamed up with History Colorado, Denver Center of Performing Arts and the Clyfford Still Museum, which posted a discount code for Parking Panda users. The company currently works with at least 20 locations in the city. Parking Panda also has gone the Airbnb route and lets individuals rent out their own parking spots to make some extra cash. +parkingpanda.com

CurbStand
If you frequent valet-parking lots, CurbStand adds the convenience of communicating with the valet and paying on with an iPhone app (Android coming soon). After you drop your car off at the valet, check in at the location on your mobile. When you’re ready to pick up your car from the valet, you can request your car and pay and tip all in the app. In the Denver area, CurbStand has 14 locations, mostly at restaurants including Root Down and Linger. The company said that it is expanding in Denver and plans to soon add 150 businesses and offer 100 locations. In Colorado, CurbStand’s app also works at Breckenridge Slopeside and the Larkspur restaurant in Vail. +curbstand.com

Parkmobile
Launched in Boulder this year, Parkmobile lets drivers pay parking meters with a smartphone. You must first register at parkmobile.com (or on the app). Then after you park, scan the QR code on the parking meter or sign, verify your space and license plate, set the time limit (if there is one) and go to your event. The app will send alerts when your time is almost up. No need to carry quarters either. Your account gets charged. The service is now available in Denver at a few garages and lots. Check its site for locations. +parkmobile.com

The two companies have been working on a new contract with Fox asking for triple the rates, according to a Dish press release.

“It’s like we’re about to close on a house and the realtor is trying to make us buy a new car as well,” said Warren Schlichting, DISH senior vice president of programming, in a statement. “Fox blacked out two of its news channels, using them as leverage to triple rates on sports and entertainment channels that are not in this contract.”

In its own statement reported by Variety, Fox News said “We care deeply about our viewers and hope that they will regain access to the number one cable news channel soon. We will continue to work around the clock to reach an agreement with Dish, as we have done with every other pay-TV provider for 18 years,” said Tim Carry, executive vice president of distribution for Fox News Channel. “This is the third time in as many months that Dish customers have suffered through a blackout due to Dish’s intransigence.”

Dish created a special website at DishStandsForYou.com, with CEO Joe Clayton apologizing to its customers and explaining the dispute.

Dish accused Fox of bringing in new channels “despite those channels not being included in the contract for renewal,” said the release. Dish said that Fox also rejected a short-term contract extension that would keep those channels on the air during negotiations.

The blackout comes two weeks after Dish customers lost CBS for several hours. Service came back the next morning with Dish agreeing to prevent consumers from skipping TV commercials during the first week a show airs. The AutoHop feature in Dish’s Hopper DVRs can completely skip commercials and has won consumer technology awards.

Did T-Mobile cram your monthly bill with excessive text-messaging charges? If so, you may be eligible for a full refund, thanks to a $90 million settlement announced Friday between T-Mobile and the nation’s 50 Attorney General offices.

Excessive charges stem from third-party premium text messages from like horoscopes, trivia and sports scores that customers never requested. Some cost $9.99 per month.

In Colorado, the state’s AG’s office estimated that about 100,000 residents may benefit from the settlement. The amount of payouts will depend on how much a customer was charged.

(There are 182,000 T-Mobile customers with Colorado phone numbers who may qualify for a refund. But of those, a chunk may no longer live in the state but kept their local number.)

To make a claim, current and former customers must go to T-Mobile’s special site at t-mobilerefund.com and register to find out if you qualify. You can also call the fund’s administrator at (855) 382-6403. T-Mobile will send a summary of your account and then you must file a claim by June 30, 2015.

T-Mobile also agreed to stay out of the commercial premium text-messaging business, get consumer consent before billing them for third-party charges, provide a full refund or credit and do a better job informing customers about such charges.

Of the $90 million settlement, a minimum of $67.5 million will be paid out to victims. Approximately $18 million will be paid to the Attorneys General and $4.5 million will go to the Federal Communications Commission.

The settlement comes two months after AG offices settled with AT&T for $105 million. To apply for a refund from AT&T, visit FTC.gov/att. Claims must be made by May 1, 2015.

Netflix customers have scrambled to find a convenient way to stream videos to their big TV at home. Really, though, it hasn’t been difficult. There is no shortage of streaming video devices, from Roku and Google’s Chromecast to Internet TVs, game consoles and DVRs like Tivo.

But until now, major pay-TV providers didn’t allow Netflix onto their proprietary equipment. Douglas County’s Dish Network said Wednesday that its customers are the first. (And I checked with Comcast and no, they also don’t integrate Netflix on their box.)

The Netflix app is rolling out today to customers with the second-generation Hopper. Vivek Khemka, DISH senior vice president of product management, points out why this is a good thing for customers:

“This app integration eliminates the need to switch television inputs to access content on varying devices. It gives our customers easy access to their favorite shows and movies, on both DISH and Netflix, without ever having to leave their Hopper,” Khemka said in a press release.

The announcement is interestingly timed. Just two weeks ago, CBS stopped broadcasting to Dish customers because of a contract dispute. The blackout lasted less than a day but it magnified Dish founder Charlie Ergen’s sentiment on why should Dish pay for TV contracts when consumers can get TV shows, news and cartoons online or on Netflix.

For Dish users who want to start watching Netflix content, they need a second-generation Hopper with broadband. Netflix recommends a minimum 1.5 Mbps connection. (DishNET Satellite customers should be able to access this but don’t forget streaming video eats up data fast, so it’s not recommended since DishNET customers are on a monthly data allowance).

In the future, Dish will roll Netflix out to the rest of the crew, including the Joey, Super Joey and Wireless Joey clients. Also, Dish notes that it could make Netflix content searchable in Dish’s regular search function plus its forthcoming Internet TV service.

Blast customers can now get up 105 Mbps, compared to yesterday’s 50 Mbps.

And Extreme 105 customers will see their 105 Mbps speed jump to 150 Mbps, which presumably will change the category name as well.

I am a Comcast customer so I thought I’d try it out for everyone. The result:

That’s about a 51 percent improvement in download speeds! But notice, the upload speeds are capped (take that file sharers). And even with the faster network, my upload speed went down ever so slightly. Still, the overall speeds are some of the fastest for the area, unless you happen to live in Longmont.

The upgrade is automatic but not necessarily immediate. Anxious customers can go ahead and reboot their modem to speed up the process. If you don’t see a speed jump, your modem may be too old. Comcast says it will let those customers know if they need to upgrade their hardware. UPDATE 12/17/2014: Comcast recommends the latest-generation modem with Docsis 3.0 technology. Here is Comcast’s list of modems and their compatibility.

Also, for any Roku owners who are also Comcast customers, you can now stream HBO Go or Showtime Anytime on a Roku box. Comcast was one of few providers that didn’t let its customers who subscribe to HBO or Showtime also get the channels on Roku’s streaming box. No word on why Comcast suddenly lifted the ban, but the channel is now available to Xfinity TV customers, according to Roku.

Google released its annual Year in Search this morning and guess what? Denverites are more into celebrities and the iPhone 6. Not so much on international affairs, unless you count the World Cup. Nationally, people were more interested in ISIS, Ukraine and Ferguson — none which made Denver’s top 10 list.

Notable differences for Denver is there were more searches here for iPhone 6 than Ebola. We weren’t so much into Flappy Bird, the most popular gaming release of the year.

And we cared more about celebrities Joan Rivers, Jennifer Lawrence and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The rest of the nation only had Robin Williams in the top 10 “trending searches” on Google.

1. What is ALS?
2. What is Ebola?
3. What is bitcoin?
4. What is Uber?
5. What is Alibaba?
6. What is Ello?
7. What is polenta?
8. What is Tinder?
9. What is gamergate?
10. What is bae?

1. How to kiss
2. How to crochet
3. How to dance
4. How to focus
5. How to breastfeed
6. How to code
7. How to budget
8. How to wakeboard
9. How to embroider
10. How to hunt

There are a lot more roundups on Google Trends today, including top Books (Boy, Snow Bird), top Beers (Budweiser) and top Calorie Searches (How many calories in a banana?). Check it out: google.com/trends/2014

Tamara Chuang covers personal technology and local tech news for The Denver Post. She previously spent 10 years doing the same thing for The Orange County Register before taking a hiatus to move here and become a SAHM to a precocious toddler.

Laura Keeney is a business reporter with The Denver Post, covering aerospace, aviation and biotech. Over the last two decades, she's covered everything from agribusiness to punk rock. Keeney holds an AACSB-accredited MBA from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY.